The cognitive component of SWB involves making judgments of one’s life: either satisfaction with life as a whole, or satisfaction with life domains such as work, family, leisure, health, and finances (Prince, & Prince 2001; Diener et al. , 1999). It can be viewed as how you think about your life (in contrast to the affective component: how you feel about your life). In this study, the cognitive component means the way the elderly perceive, think and assess their life and their beliefs and attitude toward life, world and God.
Campbell (1976) suggested that individuals judge their objective situation in each of various life domains according to standards of comparison based on aspiration, expectations, feelings of what would be just, reference group comparisons, personal needs, and personal values. Domain-satisfaction provides useful information about with which aspects of life an individual may be happy or unhappy, but cannot be summed to give an overall impression of life satisfaction. This would mean that it is necessary to assess overall satisfaction with life, as well as life domains (Susan Hird, 2003).
An idea that has long captivated writers is that how we perceive and think about the world determines our SWB. In the area of SWB, researchers find that one can dampen or amplify one’s emotions by what one thinks, and thereby experience more or less intense emotions (Larsen, Diener, & Croponzano, 1987). This approach relies on the standards of the individual to determine what is the good life and the personal choices the person make at the moment (Diener, 1984). People might increase their SWB by control of their thoughts.
For example, perhaps SWB can be increased by believing in a larger meaning or force in the universe. Support for this proposition comes from findings showing that on average religious people are happier than nonreligious people (e. g. , Ellison, 1983; Myers, 1992, cited in Diener et al. , 1997). The study explored how the elderly think about their life or what thought processes, beliefs and attitudes predominantly helped the elderly to experience a sense of well-being at this point of their lives.